1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to tamper resistant containers for holding edible materials such as spices.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years there has been an increasing interest in providing food containers with tamper resistant features to ensure that the contents of the container have not been disturbed prior to opening and use by a consumer. Tear strips that must be removed in order to access the contents of the container are one well known approach to providing tamper resistance. However, conventional tear strips have often required the container top to be made from two or more separate pieces that must then be assembled. Even where container tops that include a tear strip have been formed in one piece, two or more separate mechanical operations have been required to attach the top to the container and create the tear strip. Assembling the tops to these conventional containers (such as pepper containers) has thus required multiple steps in the manufacturing process.
Another problem with conventional tear strips is that they can be difficult to remove from the container. Similarly, the tear strips sometimes do not tear off completely leaving a portion of the strip on the container thereby making it difficult to open the container doors to access the container contents.
In some conventional containers (both metal and plastic), the container top and container body are snapped or pressed together. As a result, these containers sometimes suffer from another problem because the seal between the top and the container is not perfect. The imperfect seal can allow the container contents to escape between the lid and container during use or transport. The phenomenon where the container contents escape between the lid and the container body is also known as sifting. Sifting has been observed, for example, in some conventional pepper containers when pepper escapes between the container lid and container body due to an imperfect seal between the lid and container. The seal in such conventional containers allows for easy removal of the lid and thus also does not provide a tamper evidence benefit.
Another feature of some conventional containers, particularly containers for spices such as pepper, is to have multiple doors on the container top to permit a consumer to access the container contents in different ways. For example, some pepper containers have three doors: one allowing access to the container contents with a spoon, a smaller door allowing significant quantities to be poured out of a single mid sized opening, and a third door allowing the spices to exit more slowly through a series of small holes.